Collection 2: Lose Some, Win Some eps 5,6,7
by LatiosFan
Summary: Updated versions of episodes 5, 6 and 7 in my series of stories about Ash and Angie. Now with improved layout for better reading, and I also corrected some errors. Ash comes home but is then forced to change his plans...
1. Chapter 1

Episode 5, Home Sweet Home

Already the fifth episode in my Fan Fiction series about the Pokémon journey of Ash and Angie. Updated version with improved layout, with speech now clearly separated from narrative parts. Involves some MorpheusShipping (Ash and Angie liking each other) so if you don't like that idea, stop reading here. The rest, I hope you enjoy this fan-fiction.

Tracey was walking on deck, looking for Ash. He had been out off bed by the time Tracey woke up, which the latter found very strange. Ash didn't usually get up that early, and most of the time had to be dragged out of bed by him and Angie. He finally spotted his friend close to the bow, looking at the large dark peak that rose up high in the distance.

"Cinnabar Island," Ash said dreamily.

"You're right," he suddenly heard Tracey say, startling Ash as he had not heard Tracey come closer.

"When the captain told us he was going to make a short stop there, I called my mum right away," Ash said.

He was silent for a short moment.

"It would be so nice to see her again," he continued.

"To see who again!?" he heard Angie yell in his ear.

She had heard only these last few words, and was pretty jealous now, with her eyes flaming.

"M...My mum, in Pallet Town." Ash stuttered.

"Oh, it's okay then," and Angie smiled again. "As long as I am the only girl in your life, you're safe, remember that, mister." she warned him.

"No, one girl is more than enough," Ash thought out loud.

"I beg your pardon?!" Angie inquired, as her eyes flashed.

"Would you like to see where I live?"Ash quickly changed the subject.

"Yes, of course," she said.

"Well, while the boat is taking in new supplies, we could visit my mother's house in Pallet Town." Ash proposed. "Count me in, perhaps I can even learn some juicy details about your childhood," she teased.

"Ehh, I don't think we'll have time for that," Ash said while his cheeks flushed red.

He already pictured Angie and his mother looking through old photo albums with "Ash going on the potty for the first time" or so. "Brrrrr, I must prevent that at all cost," he thought.

"Hey Ash, I thought Cinnabar Island was completely destroyed after the volcano erupted?" Tracey asked.

"It was, but they are rebuilding the town again." Ash explained.

He was right. As they came closer, some completed buildings could be seen, while others were still in various stages of construction. The boat was secured to the docks, and our three travelers went ashore.

"According to my mum, there should be a ferry to Pallet Town," Ash said as he looked around.

"Could that be it?" Angie said pointing at the only other boat in the harbor besides their cruise ship.

"It couldn't be," Ash thought, but as a Wingull came sitting on his shoulder, he knew it was true.

"Hi there, Mr. Briney!" Ash said as waved at the owner of the boat.

Ash felt something tapping on his cap.

"And hello to you too, Peeko, of course," Ash added.

"Ahoy Ash," Mr. Briney answered, "what brings you here?"

"I'm going to visit my mother in Pallet Town. And this is my friend Tracey and that pretty girl over there is Angie."

She blushed as Ash said this. "Better give her some extra compliments today," Ash thought, maybe she won't think about watching those photo albums any more," although he meant every word he had said about her.

"You two are...?" Mr. Briney asked.

"Yes, she is my girlfriend," Ash admitted, as now he was blushing. "Can you take us to Pallet Town, Mr. Briney?"

"Sure, we'll be there in a flash. Hop on board!" the friendly sailor answered.

Mr. Briney didn't exaggerate. His boat was even faster than the last time Ash had been on it and he soon saw the familiar silhouette of his hometown.

"I'll wait here for you, with Peeko," Mr. Briney said, "Now you go see your mum."

Ash came closer to his house, and he slowed down. "Where was his mum? And Mr. Mime?" he thought. It seemed quiet, like no one was home.

"Surprise! Mime, mime, mime!" Ash's mother and Mr. Mime shouted as the door burst open. "Welcome home my little Ashy!" his mother said as she embraced and kissed him.

"Mum... please..." Ash said, feeling very embarrassed.

His mother finally let go off Ash.

"And you must be Angie. You two look so cute together," Ash's mother remarked.

Now it was Angie's turn to feel embarrassed.

"Ehh.. yes, thank you, Mrs. Ketchum," was all she could say as she tried to prevent herself from blushing.

"And hello Tracey, also nice to see you again. You must be hungry right? I made you a little snack," Ash's mother said.

"Ohhh, thanks mum!" Ash yelled, as he stormed towards the dinner table.

"That boy never changes a bit," Delia Ketchum thought, although she had been surprised when Ash hesitatingly told her on the phone he had a girlfriend. "My little boy is growing up," she thought, as she entered the living room where Ash was already munching away the delicious things his mother had made.

"Behave yourself, Ash!" Angie reprimanded him.

But then she noticed how delicious the food all looked and smelled, and before she knew it, she was sitting next to Ash, eating almost as fast as him.

"Pfffff, that was good, right Angie?" Ash said, full with all that delicious food.

"Yeah, you're a great cook, Mrs. Ketchum. I'm so stuffed, I really couldn't eat another bite," Angie replied.

"So you don't want your desert then?" Ash's mother asked teasingly.

"Desert!?" Angie and Ash both yelled.

And they dug in again like they were starving, so soon the desert had also disappeared. Ash sighed, as he dropped down on the couch, Angie dropping down next to him.

"Too bad you can't keep eating forever," he said.

"Maybe you should have been a Munchlax then," Angie teased him.

"Well, you almost ate more than me," Ash said, "so that means you would also make a very nice Munchlax."

"Oh yeah?" Angie said.

"Here we go again", Tracey thought. But Angie didn't have the energy to fight with Ash, and neither did he. They fell asleep on the couch, their heads leaning against each other. Meanwhile his mother checked out the sketches Tracey had made during his journey. Suddenly all this peace and quiet was disturbed.

"Ash Ketchum, I know you're in there!" someone shouted outside.

Angie woke up first. She knew that voice somehow.

"Wake up, Ash, there is someone for you. I believe it is Paul," she said as she was shaking Ash.

"Paul? Where?" Ash said as he opened his eyes in a flash.

He had been rather nervous to face Paul after he had lost some battles to him in the past, and had been glad he didn't have to fight him in the Sinnoh League. Paul had gotten into trouble with one of the referees, and as a penalty had lost that fight, leaving him one point short of a place in the semi-finals. Ash ran to the window and opened it.

"Ah, there you are, finally," Paul said in his usual disdainful voice. "Sorry if I woke you up," but it really didn't sound like he meant a word of that.

"What do you want, Paul?" Ash asked.

"Quite simple," he stated in his dry voice, "a battle!"

"Did you come here just for that?" Ash said with disbelief written all over his face. "Can't we do this some other time? I am home for the first time in months. I'd like to spend some time with my family before we continue our journey," Ash explained.

"Ah, I just knew you would chicken out," Paul said, "some Sinnoh Champion. You know what? You spend too many times with that girl of yours. You are getting soft! Not that you were much of a trainer to begin with," Paul continued his insults.

Even though Ash had grown more gentle, especially since he was with Angie, remarks like this could still really get his goat.

"You leave Angie out of this, Paul! But if you want a battle, you'll get one!" he yelled and raced outside. "Tracey, do you want to be the referee for this one?"

Tracey nodded and stepped forward.

"Each trainer will use three Pokémon. The first trainer who is out of usable Pokémon loses. The challenger is allowed to switch Pokémon. Play fair and may the best trainer win!" he listed the rules.

"Pikachu, would you like to fight, buddy?"Ash asked his little yellow friend.

Pikachu nodded and looked menacingly in Paul's direction.

"How predictable," Paul sneered and took out his first Poké Ball, and a Poliwhirl appeared.

"How about some Thunder to begin with?" Ash asked his little buddy.

"Pikachuuuu!" was heard, as a powerful electric charge struck Paul's Poliwhirl, but when Pikachu stopped, Paul's Poliwhirl seemed hardly affected.

"Huh?" Ash said in disbelief.

"Some trainers do actually train between battles, you know," Paul stated at his usual annoying voice. "While you were relaxing with your girlfriend, I made my Pokémon gain some levels."

Ash shivered for a second, but regained his overconfident self again.

"Nice, but it won't help you," Ash said, "Pikachu, do Volt Tackle!"

"Stay where you are..." Paul commanded his Pokémon, as a strange smile formed on his face.

"Isn't he even going to dodge or counter that Volt Tackle?" Angie wondered, "but why...?" and then it hit her.

"Ash, look out! Paul is trying to get Pikachu close enough to ..." Angie tried to warn Ash, but it was too late.

"Poliwhirl, do Mud Bomb!" Paul shouted.

Pikachu was too close to dodge the attack, and was hurled up in the air, then crashed on the ground.

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled concerned.

The little Pokémon tried to get up, but then fell down again. Ash rushed towards it.

"Pikachu can no longer continue," Tracey exclaimed.

"You were great, now get some rest, little buddy," Ash said as he picked up Pikachu and gave it to Angie.

"One down, two to go," Paul said, "maybe you should let her fight your battles for you," shortly looking at Angie. "At least she has some understanding of tactics."

"We're just getting warmed up," Ash countered this remark, but meanwhile he clenched his fists about losing while he did have a clear type advantage in the battle he just lost.

"I'll show that Paul something!" he thought and he also wanted to look good since Angie and his mother were watching.

"To make it easier for you, I'll choose my next Pokémon first, so you can choose a Pokémon that has a slimmer chance of losing," Paul proposed.

"We can win even with a type disadvantage," Ash answered, "I'll make my choice first. Grotle, it's your turn!"

"Can't say I didn't warn you," was Paul's answer. "Staraptor, come out and do Aerial Ace!" He commanded.

"Withdraw, Grotle!" was Ash's reaction.

He thought it would be best to have Grotle's defenses raised and while that also meant taking some hits, it would enable Grotle to use it's Overgrow ability, raising it's attack significantly when it's HP was getting lower. Grotle withstood the first attack, but Paul ordered his Staraptor to do another Aerial Ace.

"Grotle, use Withdraw again!" Ash reacted.

Angie got a little worried about where this fight was going.

"Be careful Ash, that Staraptor looks very strong," she warned him.

Ash nodded. "Just a little longer," he thought, "we're almost there, as Grotle prepared to withstand yet another of Staraptor's attacks.

"Now, do Wing Attack on Grotle's side!" Paul yelled.

"This was an unexpected change in moves," Ash thought, but before he could respond to it, Staraptor had turned Grotle on it's back with that Wing Attack.

"Oh... Grotle..," Ash stuttered.

"Now one more Aerial Ace!" Paul commanded.

This time Grotle's vulnerable belly was exposed to Paul's charging Pokémon, and in a flash it fainted, after Paul's Staraptor hit it again.

"Grotle is no longer able to battle" Tracey exclaimed.

"And that is two! Just one more to go, Ash!" Paul sneered.

Ash was getting more angry with Paul but also with himself. "What is happening? Are we really that weak?" kept going through his mind.

"Well, are you going to send in your third Pokémon, or will you forfeit now already? Not that it makes much of a difference for the outcome, of course," Paul said at his most annoying voice.

"We've been in tougher situations," Ash said.

"Maybe you need to put off those pink glassed of your's," Paul said while pointing at Angie, "you seem to see things even less clear than you usually do."

"I told you to leave her out of this!" Ash yelled.

"Shall we let the Pokémon do the battling, guys?" Tracey intervened.

"Char!" Ash heard.

"Chimchar, do you want to fight? Great! Okay, go on!" Ash said.

"I expected that. Nice to see you again, Chimchar," Paul said, although it was clear he didn't mean it.

"Staraptor, do Brave Bird!" Paul shouted.

"Dig!" was Ash's reaction.

Chimchar disappeared in the soil as Staraptor flew past.

"Hiding will not save you, Ash!" Paul shouted.

"Chimchar, come out and use Flame Wheel!" Ash commanded.

"Brave Bird again!" Paul called his next move.

Both Pokémon collided in midair, and as the dust settled, Staraptor was lying on the ground, fainted, while Chimchar was still standing. "Chimchar isn't looking so healthy any more. It almost seems like Paul was sacrificing his Staraptor to do as much damage as possible, to wear down Chimchar." Angie thought.

"Go Ash!" she cheered, but deep inside she was getting even more worried about the outcome of the battle.

"I'll finish this with Poliwhirl," Paul said as he sent out that Pokémon again. "Do Whirlpool!"

"Quick, try to avoid that, Chimchar!" Ash yelled, but Chimchar was too tired to do so and got trapped in the vortex.

"Now, Poliwhirl, jump in the Whirlpool and finish it with Double Slap!" Paul shouted.

Trapped in the whirlpool Chimchar could not escape, and took a severe beating. The final slap of Poliwhirl's attack sent Chimchar flying out off the whirlpool, and it crashed down at the feet of Ash.

"Chimchar! Oh No!"Ash yelled, as he picked up his battered Pokémon friend.

"And that is number three," Paul said. "Some champion! I already thought it was just luck that you won in Sinnoh, but I never imagined it would be this easy."

Pikachu had regained enough strength to stand on it's feet again, so Ash gave Chimchar to Angie. Then he clenched his fists, while trying to fight the tears over the humiliation he had just been exposed to.

"We will beat you next time, Paul! That's a promise!"Ash yelled, as Paul had already turned his back to him, and was about to walk away.

"Yeah, sure. Who are you kidding?" Paul said, and to the others, "be seeing you. Thanks for being the referee, Tracey," and he walked off.

Ash wanted to shout something to Paul, but nothing came out of his mouth.

"Can you hold Chimchar for me for a moment, Tracey?" Angie asked.

"Sure," Tracey said, cause he saw Ash was pretty shaken up and could use her comfort.

"Oh, Ash. I'm so sorry for you..." Angie said as she walked towards him.

"Stay away!" Ash yelled, as he pulled his cap over his eyes and started running.

"But Ash... wait!" Angie shouted, but she hesitated to follow him.

"Maybe I should leave him alone with his thoughts for a minute," she convinced herself. Besides, Chimchar needed her medical expertise. She grabbed a Hyper Potion from her backpack, and applied it to the hurt Pokémon. Grotle was also quite shook up, but mostly emotionally. It still was not quite used to being to much bigger when it evolved from a Turtwig to it's current form. Angie gave it a hug, and that seemed to help.

"Ash needs to be alone now, but I am sure he will come back to tell you how great you all performed. Don't think it's your fault he lost, okay?" she said to cheer up Ash's Pokémon.

A few hours passed but still no sign of Ash. "He's been alone long enough, now I must go find him," Angie thought.

"Tracey, Mrs. Ketchum! I'm off to find Ash!" she shouted.

"I hope you find him real soon," Ash's mother said, "I've never seen him look so disappointed before."

Angie became more worried at these words.

"I'll run like the wind!" she said, and so she did.

"Ash, where are you?" she yelled, while running in the direction she saw him disappear in.

"He could be everywhere," she thought. She slowed down. "And what if he doesn't want to be found, not even by me...?" She shivered at the thought of possibly losing her only just recently found happiness with "her" Ash. "Wait a second! Didn't he tell me that night we watched the sunset together on the boat, that there was this place he would go to if things seemed to go all wrong for him? He did." She started running again. The place Ash told her about wasn't too far away from her. "Follow the path to the north, then there's a large tree on the left. Walk for about half a mile in that direction, past a little stream, and follow that stream. Where it reaches the ocean, you'll find a big rock. From it you can see the ocean so clearly. I always find solace there." Angie remembered the words Ash had spoken to her to describe that place. "That must be the stream!" she thought as she almost stepped into the water in her stride. "It won't be long now." A few minutes later, she saw the large boulder, "It must have been a rock to Ash when he was younger," she thought, and noticed her friend sitting on top of it, still clearly in tears.

"Ash, I'm here," she whispered.

"Go away, I don't want to see you!" was his bold reply.

Angie's first reaction was to let him have it, since she had come all the way for him because she had been so worried, but she was able to control herself. "He is really hurting," she thought.

"Ash, I won't let you go that easily. We made a promise, remember? I'm coming up there, and when you can say in all sincerity that you really don't want me to be here, I'll leave, okay?" she said as she climbed on top of the large boulder.

Ash looked into her eyes as she came sitting next to him. He stopped crying for a moment, and they sat there, silently staring at each other. Then he fell into Angie's arms, and started crying again, louder than before

.

"What did I do wrong?" he sobbed. "Paul's right. I'm just a lousy trainer, who doesn't know what he is doing. It was just luck that I managed to beat Cynthia."

"Now you listen to me, Ash Ketchum!" Angie said, as she was getting angry because of all this negativity.

That got his attention.

"Either you stop that ridiculous self pity, or I'll give you something to be sorry about!" she yelled.

For a moment Ash was speechless. He had seen Angie enraged at more occasions, but this was different. She noticed he was listening, and continued.

"You are a great trainer, and a nice person," she said. "And I don't just say that because I happen to like you a lot. The only thing that went wrong today is that you let guys like Paul get to you so easily, and you forget to think about your moves. And then it is possible to lose like just happened."

Ash's tears had stopped. "What she said makes sense," he thought. Angie saw that he was getting her point.

"You could never have come this far if you weren't such a good trainer, who loves his Pokémon and wants to make them shine," she added. "Luck has nothing to do with it! Do you believe this? You've got to. You do believe in me, right?"

"You're absolutely right, Ange," Ash said, as he nodded. "I'm so glad you came after me and helped me see it this way."

Angie wiped the last tear from his face.

"How about going back now?" she asked. "Your mum and Tracey must be worried what is keeping us so long. And I think your Pokémon would also be glad to see you again.

"Yeah, you're right again," he said.

"And you know what?" she continued.

Ash looked at her with a questioning look.

"This is for good luck, in case you do need it in the future," Angie said as she gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

Before Ash had time to recover, Angie had already jumped of the boulder, clearly amused at the astonished look on Ash's face.

"Hey, mister Slowpoke, are you coming or what?" she said.

Ash put up his cap again, and also jumped down.

"You just wait, missy. I'll get you for that!" he replied.

"You have to catch me first then," Angie said as she ran away, with Ash trying to catch up.

My eighth fan-fiction story. I apologize for any typing errors, or grammatically not 100% correct sentences. Remember, I am not a native English speaker or writer. I tried to make this story as close to the Pokémon series as possible, so that the characters will react roughly the same in this fictional story as they do in the series. Comments are always welcome, you can use the review function on this FanFiction site for that.

Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own any trademarks of Pokémon. Any similarities to the works of others is purely accidental, and not meant as an infringement on anyone's achievements.


	2. Chapter 2

Episode 6, Old Becomes New Again

Already the sixth episode in my Fan Fiction series about the Pokémon journey of Ash and Angie. Updated version with improved layout, with speech now clearly separated from narrative parts. Involves some MorpheusShipping (Ash and Angie liking each other) so if you don't like that idea, stop reading here. The rest, I hope you enjoy this fan-fiction.

Angie was sneaking down the hallway. Everyone was still asleep, it seemed, so she didn't want to make any noise. She padded on Ash's door.

"Ash, are you awake yet?" she whispered.

She had some trouble getting to sleep last night, after all that had happened the day before. Ash loosing so badly to Paul, and getting a pretty hard blow from it. She managed to restore at least some of his faith in himself, but still felt uncomfortable about leaving him all alone, as they parted to each go to their respective bedrooms. Finally she fell asleep, but had a bad dream, and had lied awake for quite a long time since then. Finally she fell asleep again, but her restless thoughts were still with Ash. "I hope he is really gonna be okay..." kept going on in her head. So she woke up early that morning, and just had to check up on him.

From inside Ash's bedroom, there came no answer.

"Ash, it's me. Is everything okay? Angie whispered a little louder, "are you still sleeping?"

She gathered all her courage and opened the door a little.

"If I was still asleep, then I wouldn't be now anymore," she heard Ash's voice say right behind her.

She almost screamed.

"Don't you sneak up on me and make me jump out of my skin!" she said annoyed, but she was glad to hear his voice again.

"He did sound quite okay," she thought.

"You're out early," he said.

"I had some trouble sleeping," Angie explained, "but can we go inside for a moment? It's getting rather chilly outside."

Ash did feel a little uncomfortable about letting her into his bedroom, it wasn't very tidy, and what if someone saw them there together?" But he had to agree on it being too fresh to stay outside, and he didn't want Angie to catch a cold again. Besides, then Tracey would probably make another smart ass remark about Angie and him staying outside together for too long.

"Sure, come in, just don't look at the mess please," Ash said

They went inside, and Ash sat down on the bed. Angie now also started feeling a little uncomfortable about being here, it felt a bit like invading on Ash's privacy, and she was also a bit worried about getting "caught". But then again it was a perfect moment to talk about yesterday, and she didn't want to let it pass. "You never know if there will be another moment like this during the rest of the day," she reasoned, and finally sat down on the bed next to Ash, although still at a small distance.

"Did it have anything to do with me that you slept not too well last night?" Ash asked.

Angie nodded shortly.

"But you shouldn't feel guilty about that, Ash. I'm just....ehhh...very sensitive," she added.

"That's so sweet of you," Ash said, as he pierced through her explanation, and knew she said this to avoid making him feel responsible for her loosing sleep.

"Uh... you noticed I wasn't being fully honest with you?" she asked him.

"Well, that wasn't too hard to do, not even for me," Ash said while smiling. "The way you talked some sense into me yesterday, makes it hard to believe you would have stopped worrying about me the next day, or in this case, last night."

Angie felt more comfortable because of his words, and slid a little closer to Ash.

"I've also spent a lot of time thinking last night," Ash continued. "I want to avoid losing the way I lost yesterday, not to Paul and not to anyone." Ash said, looking very serious. "There are two ways to do that."

"Huh?" Angie said, "what are those then?"

"An obvious way to never have to lose again is to stop being a trainer," Ash started.

Angie's face saddened at hearing those words. "Don't give up your dream, Ash!" she thought.

"But all the things you said to me yesterday really got through to me, so giving up is not an option," Ash continued.

Angie was relieved, and she noticed Ash's eyes had gotten that fiery glow full of determination again. "That's the glow of the boy I fell in love with. His passion for fulfilling his dreams," she thought, while hoping to stay part of his dreams forever.

"I'm so glad to hear that, Ash," she said. "You just need to keep better focus in a battle, that's the way you have gotten to Cynthia, and finally even defeated her."

"And it wouldn't help to get a bit stronger too," Ash added, as he nodded at Angie's words, "so I've made a decision."

Angie stared at him, anxious to hear what Ash was about to say.

"I am not getting back on the boat to that new region," he announced, "instead I am going to travel through the Kanto region again, to get some better training. The first time I battled here, I was racing from town to town, rushing to get those gym badges. But this time I want to be more aware of what I am doing, learn more and get better."

Angie was listening to his little speech with all her attention.

"You're not disappointed now are you, because I want to stay here?" Ash asked, "if you are, please tell me."

"Well...," Angie said in her most teasing voice, while trying to look a bit let down, "I think....... that's a marvelous idea." she quickly finished her sentence.

She looked forward to getting to know the region Ash grew up in, and where he started his first Pokémon journey. It took Ash a few moments to realize that she was just teasing him and was only playing like she didn't really approve of his idea.

"Why you!" he said, and he started to tickle her.

"What is going on here?" Tracey said.

He had heard Angie giggling, as Ash was punishing her in return for teasing him, and was now standing at his door!

"Uh... nothing," Ash said, "Pikachu was licking my face to wake me up and that made me laugh," and he gave Angie, who had trouble not to start giggling again, a silencing look.

"Okay, I might believe that, but I doubt your mom will, right Pikachu?" Tracey said, followed by a "Pika, pika" as Pikachu agreed with Tracey's words.

"Aww, busted!" Ash thought. "Pikachu must have gone out to get some water like he did earlier and I never realized it was not here with me."

"So you'd better tell your other "Pikachu" to go back to her room, before your mum gets here," Tracey suggested. "Okay, I will," Ash said with a muffled voice.

They heard Tracey walk away, looked at each other accusingly, and then almost burst out into laughter again. Angie stood up, opened the door and Pikachu came in, giving Ash an insulted look for letting it wait outside for so long.

"Thanks for your support Ange. See you at breakfast," Ash whispered to her, as she tried to close the door as silently as possible.

"Good morning Mrs. Ketchum, Ash, Angie," Tracey said as he joined them on the table. "Did you know there were wild Pikachu around here?"

"Are you sure Tracey?" Ash's mother said while she looked very surprised. "I've never seen any other Pikachu around here than Ash's."

"Why, I am very certain I heard another one this morning, rather early," Tracey explained, as he tried to play like he was very surprised that there were normally no wild Pikachu in this area.

Ash looked at Tracey as if he was about to kill him. Then Ash's cheeks flushed.

"Uh..., that was me. I am trying to learn Pikachu's language and Tracey must have heard me practicing," Ash lied. "I've learned a few words so far, like "PikaPi" and "PiPikachu" but I still have a lot more to learn," Ash explained.

Pikachu looked at it's trainer like he had gone mad, while Angie almost choked on her bread trying to hold her laughter as she saw how Ash turned red as he was trying to talk his way out of this situation again. Then Ash put on his normal face again.

"I've got an announcement to make," he said. "Angie already knows this, but Tracey, it may come as a surprise to you."

Ash inserted a small pause, then took a deep breath.

"I am not going further with the boat heading for the new region. Instead I've decided to travel along the Kanto region again, to improve myself as a trainer, and let my Pokémon grow stronger. Angie has decided to come along, since she has never been to Kanto before," Ash finished his announcement.

"Is that the only reason?" Tracey said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't," Ash cut him short. "But Tracey, are you willing to change plans too, or will you get on the boat today?"

Tracey hesitated. He did look forward to new challenges and new Pokémon, that would probably be found in that new region. But he enjoyed traveling with Ash and his new partner/girlfriend.

"Well, alright," Tracey gave in, "someone needs to keep an eye on you two."

"Great! That's settled then. After we finish breakfast, I'll call the captain that he won't have to wait for us," Ash said.

Soon they had packed their backpacks for the journey ahead, and it was time to leave. Ash's mother had to wipe a tear from her eyes as Ash walked up to the front door. "It's just like the first time he was leaving home," she thought. "But look at how much bigger he has grown, and he even has a girlfriend now." Ash turned around and saw his mother's face.

"Don't worry mum," he tried to put her at ease. "I know my way around here now, and I have some good friends with me. We'll be fine, and I'll call you whenever I can, okay?"

Ash gave his mother a big hug, and he joined his companions. His mother and her trusty Mr. Mime were waving until they were too far away.

"Good luck Ash," she whispered as she went back inside.

Ash and company walked back to the shore at the south of Pallet Town, where they found Mr. Briney playing with Peeko, as they had seen him do before. "I've never seen any man be such good friends with his Pokémon," Angie thought, "except maybe Ash and Pikachu." She was hoping to get as close with her Shinx too, and she realized this journey would be a good chance.

"Shinx, would you like to come out?" Angie said as she sent out her Pokémon.

It reacted a bit shy when it saw Peeko, but Pikachu introduced Shinx to Mr. Briney's Wingull, and before they knew it the three were playing together.

"So, Ash, you came to sail back to the harbor on Cinnabar Island, right?" Mr. Briney asked.

"Well, errr.. no, actually not," Ash replied and he explained about his change of plans.

"Ok lad, I wish you luck then. And I'll let the captain know you won't be joining him right now, so you won't have to call him."

Thanks! Can you send him our best wishes please?"Ash answered.

"Sure will! Come along Peeko!" Mr. Briney said as he started his engines. "By the way, where will you be going to first? he yelled.

"Well, there is someone in Cerulean City that I would like to visit first, but it will take us some time to get there, so our next stop will be Viridian City, I guess," Ash answered as loudly as he could, to be heard over the sound of the ship's engines.

Suddenly the engines of the boat were stopped.

"Is there a problem Mr. Briney?" Tracey asked.

"You said something about wanting to get to Cerulean City?" Mr. Briney said, while not answering Tracey's question. "Yes, I did,"Ash answered.

"What if I tell you I can get you there a lot quicker, lad."

"That would be nice." Ash said, as he had been wondering lately how Misty and her sisters were doing at the Cerulean Gym.

"Well, hop on then," the old sailor invited Ash and his friends, "first we'll sail south-east, past Fuchsia City, and after a while we go north again. Then just a bit to the west and we'll be there in no time!"

Angie called her Shinx and Pikachu jumped on Ash's shoulder as they boarded Mr. Briney's ship. The engines were started again.

"Next stop, Cerulean Town!" Mr. Briney cheered, as he steered his ship at great speed through the waves, as if he was trying to catch up with the horizon.

My 9th fan-fiction story. A little shorter than usual, but since this is more like a bridge between episode 5 and 7, it's okay I guess. I apologize for any typing errors, or grammatically not 100% correct sentences. Remember, I am not a native English speaker or writer. I tried to make this story as close to the Pokémon series as possible, so that the characters will react roughly the same in this fictional story as they do in the series. Comments are always welcome, you can use the review function on this FanFiction site for that.

Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own any trademarks of Pokémon. Any similarities to the works of others is purely accidental, and not meant as an infringement on anyone's achievements.


	3. Chapter 3

Episode 7, Dancing Queen

Already the seventh episode in my Fan Fiction series about the Pokémon journey of Ash and Angie. Updated version with improved layout, with speech now clearly separated from narrative parts. Touches on PokéShipping (Misty liking Ash) and also involves some heavy MorpheusShipping (Ash and Angie liking each other) so if you don't like that idea, stop reading here. The rest, I hope you enjoy this fan-fiction.

Ash was standing on the bow of Mr. Briney's ship. He looked expectingly to the small strip of land that had just become visible in the distance. "That must be Cerulean Cape," Ash thought. "I wonder how Misty is doing. Would she still be competing with her sisters about how to run the gym?" he wondered.

"A penny for your thoughts," Angie said, startling Ash.

"There is someone in Cerulean City I haven't seen in a while," Ash explained. "We have been traveling together for a long time when I first decided to become a Pokémon trainer."

"What is her name?" Angie asked.

"Huh? I didn't tell her it is a girl," Ash wondered.

"What makes you think it is a girl?" he asked Angie.

"Well, it's quite simple, Ash Ketchum. The way you keep running around in circles, not having to mention too much details about your friend. The only possible reason for this is that you are reluctant to tell me you have been traveling with a girl instead of with a boy," she explained.

Ash looked at his feet for a moment, then looked at Angie again.

"Her name is Misty," he almost whispered.

"Well now, that wasn't so hard, right?" Angie said while smiling. "I am also looking forward to meeting her. Maybe she can give me a few hints on how to put up with you for so long."

A few minutes later they had reached Cerulean Cape, and they thanked Mr. Briney for the pleasant ride on board of his ship.

"Gull, gull!" Peeko screamed to say goodbye, as Mr. Briney waved at Ash and company. He increased the engine's throttle and away he raced again, while his former passengers kept waving at him.

"Now let's get moving guys,"Ash said. "It's still a few hours walking to Cerulean City."

So they picked up their backpacks, and went off. The road ahead was rather straightforward, with a sharp bend halfway. After the bend they crossed the large bridge that was leading to their destination. It was getting close to noon as the outline of Cerulean City appeared in the distance. Fifteen minutes later they passed the sign saying "Welcome to Cerulean City".

"You want to get something to eat first or go straight to the gym?" Tracey asked.

Ash was about to say "Straight to the gym, of course" as he realized that this meant rushing in again, and this was something he was trying to avoid, since the last time he did that, was when he lost to Paul.

"We might as well have lunch first," Ash said much to Angie's and Tracey's surprise. "It's no good battling on an empty stomach, right?" Ash explained his unexpected decision.

He has also noticed that the town was filled with decorations. "I don't recall those from the last time I was here," he thought. Then he heard a slightly familiar voice call him.

"Ash, is it really you?!" a girl shouted.

Ash didn't recognize the voice straight away. A blond girl waved at him from across the street.

"Is that Misty?" Angie asked Ash. "You can go greet her, you know, just as long as you don't go hugging and kissing her all the time," she teased him.

"B..but that's not Misty..." Ash stuttered, trying hard to remember who this girl was, that obviously knew him so well. "Why, Ash, don't you remember me?" the unknown girl said as she had crossed the street and now stood right in front of Ash and his friends. "I'm Daisy, Misty's sister," the girl revealed her identity.

"Of course!" Ash thought as it hit him, "Misty has three sisters, and Daisy was one of them." Daisy shook hands with Ash and his companions.

"I don't blame you for not recognizing me right away," she said to Ash, who still looked a bit dazzled. "You haven't seen us in quite a while, but we were reminded of you by Misty on a regular basis. She keeps bringing your name up once in a while you know. I believe she still has a bit of a crush on you. But don't tell her I told you," she added.

Ash looked at Angie, who didn't seem to be to amused at this revelation. "I just had to come here first,"Ash thought. "What if Angie thinks I only wanted to come here to be with Misty?" Ash looked at Angie again, but she didn't look straight back at him.

"Did you already have lunch?" Daisy asked, "because we have plenty room and food at home for a few guests, so if you want, you can come with me."

Everyone agreed with this invitation, and they followed Daisy. Angie was rather quiet as Daisy took them to her home. "Maybe she'll loosen up a little after we have had lunch and are all feeling better." Ash thought, since the journey to Cerulean City had made them all a bit tired. Misty's other two sisters, Lily and Violet, joined them at the table, but still no sign of Misty. "Where is she?" Ash thought, but he was afraid to ask. "Angie may see this as another sign that I am dying to see Misty," and although he did very much like to see how Misty was doing, it had never been his intention to get too involved with her.

"Misty is training at the gym," Daisy said, as she seemed to have read Ash's thoughts. "If you like to, we can go there after you have finished your meal," she added.

"Excellent idea!" Ash said, "we were heading for the gym anyway, since I've come to challenge the gym leader for a badge."

He was hoping that had sounded convincing enough to let Angie know that this had really been his intention. After the last bites of food, Ash, Angie, Tracey and Misty's three sisters left for the Cerulean Gym.

"What's with all the decorations in the streets anyway?" Ash informed.

"Oh, that's for the annual Cerulean Water Pokémon Festival," Violet explained.

"Tonight there will be a big dance with music and all kinds of seafood to celebrate everything the sea and the water Pokémon have meant for this town up till today." Daisy remarked. "You sure timed your arrival well, Ash. Are you going to ask Misty to go with you to the dance?"

Ash coughed loudly, as if he was choking on something.

"I didn't know about the festivities here, so I had no plans for tonight," he said, trying to sound as neutral as possible.

"Okay, that's great. Then you are free to go there then," Daisy answered, "it would be so romantic," she dreamed out loud.

Ash wished he could disappear in an instant. "That was not what I meant when I said I had no plans," he thought. He almost did not dare to look how Angie had reacted to Daisy's words, but when he did, her eyes looked at him much cooler than he was used to lately. "How am I going to convince her that I don't have those feelings for Misty, that she is just a very close friend?"

There it was, the Cerulean Gym. Ash started to get even more nervous. "What if Misty comes up to me and starts hugging and kissing me? Then Angie will never believe nothing ever happened between me and Misty in the past. If her sisters were right and she is still talking about me often, then she may as well do that." The doors of the gym slowly opened.

"What do you want?" Ash heard Misty's voice ask, but he did not see her yet.

"I've come to challenge you for a battle!" Ash replied.

"Ash? Ash Ketchum? Is... that really you?" Misty asked.

"Yeah sis! He came back!" Daisy answered before Ash could.

Ash heard Misty running down the stairs and braced himself for the seemingly inevitable overly affectionate greetings he was about to receive, but a few steps away from him, Misty suddenly stopped.

"Ash... you never told me you had a sister," Misty said with a voice that was much softer than usual as she looked at Angie. "Or are you..." She didn't finish her sentence.

Ash nodded.

"Angie and I met in the Sinnoh region, at the Pokémon Summer Academy. We kept seeing each other and recently we decided to travel along together," he quickly filled Misty in on her.

Angie started smiling a little again. She had been afraid that Ash might be a bit vague to Misty about his relation to her, but she was glad he made it clear why Ash and she were together. Misty needed a few seconds to overcome this, for her perhaps a bit unpleasant, surprise.

"Well, welcome Angie. Any friend of Ash is my friend, Misty said. "And Tracey, so good to see you! Are you traveling with Ash again?"

"Yea, I am. There are still so many beautiful things in this region for me to capture in drawings or perhaps on a few pictures." he explained.

Misty looked at Ash again.

"You said you wanted to challenge me. But you already got a Cobble Badge, so why bother?" she asked.

Ash told her he wanted to travel along Kanto again, and challenge every gym he went to before for extra experience.

"I see," Misty said. "Well I have to agree that you still have a lot to learn. Let's Battle then!"

They proceeded to the gym's battlefield.

"Since we have to make some preparations for the festivities of tonight, I suggest we make it a battle where each trainer only uses two Pokémon, instead of three. Are you okay with that?" Misty proposed.

"Fine with me," Ash answered.

"Ash... good luck," Angie said softly to him as she walked towards her seat at the side of the gym's battlefield.

Although she did usually encourage him with a lot more enthusiasm, Ash was still very glad with her words. They were the first she had spoken to him since Daisy started mentioning how Misty was still thinking about Ash and proposing he should ask Misty to the dance.

"Trainers ready?" Violet asked, "let's go!"

"Ok, Golduck, show yourself!" Misty commanded.

"You mean... your Psyduck has finally evolved!" Ash asked.

"Yes, isn't he the coolest Pokémon now?" Misty said, all starry eyed.

"Great, this could be an interesting battle," Ash said. "Pikachu! Do you want to go first?"

His little friend jumped of his shoulder on the floor, looking completely ready for battle.

"Golduck, do Water Pulse!" Misty commanded.

"Evade it, Pikachu!" Ash reacted and Pikachu dodged the attack with ease.

"I forgot how fast your Pikachu is," Misty said, "but you can't dodge this attack. Golduck, do Hypnosis!"

Ash immediately remembered how he had trouble with Hypnosis in his first battle with Fantina and responded instantly.

"Pikachu, spin around and do thunderbolt!" he shouted.

The sleep inducing attack was about to strike as a circling tower of electricity enveloped Pikachu, deflecting Golduck's Hypnosis.

"Wh... what is that?" Misty asked in utter surprise, as she not only saw this attack rendered useless, but Golduck had also been hit by some of the bolts of electricity that flashed from the rapidly spinning Pikachu.

"Now! Do Volt Tackle!" Ash shouted.

Psyduck took a direct hit, and went down immediately. "That's incredible!" was Misty's first thought.

"A little something we learned as we prepared for our battle at the Hearthome Gym, we had to deal with Hypnosis then and came up with this technique." Ash said as he noticed how baffled Misty looked.

"Ash sure has changed a lot," Misty thought, "He looks so cool and in control. But hey, keep it together Misty!" she said to herself, "you've got a gym battle to win and Ash is just a challenger. I'll show him something good!"

"Nice move Ash!" Misty shouted, "but here comes my next Pokémon! You won't be able to take this one out that easily," Misty said as the sent out her Togekiss. "Do Aura Sphere!" Misty commanded.

"Watch out Ash, it's impossible to dodge that attack!" Angie warned Ash.

"Thanks Angie! Pikachu, do Iron Tail on that Aura Sphere!" Ash shouted.

Pikachu jumped up in the air and tried to deflect the blue ball of incredible aura energy as Ash had told him to. A large explosion followed, sending Pikachu spinning through the air, landing in the water basin, that made up part of the battlefield.

"Oh... Pikachu!"Ash shouted, uncertain if his little friend was okay after taking such a forceful blow.

Then Pikachu emerged from the water, and landed on solid ground.

"Okay! Well done, Pikachu. Can you continue to battle?" Ash asked.

A loud "Pika, Pikachu!" confirmed that Pikachu still had some power left.

"Ok, little buddy, let's make some Thunder, shall we? Just wait for my signal!"

Misty's Togekiss was circling high above Pikachu, waiting for Misty to tell it what to do next.

"Do Aerial Ace!" Misty commanded, sending her Togekiss diving down fast on Pikachu.

"Just a little closer..." Ash thought, "a little more..." Misty was surprised that Ash didn't seem to take any countermeasures at all. "Perhaps Pikachu was hit more by that Aura Sphere than Ash had anticipated," she thought.

"Now!" Ash yelled.

Pikachu unleashed all it's electrical energy at once, as Togekiss was about to hit Pikachu. Another explosion occurred, causing Togekiss and Pikachu to become invisible because of the dust flying around. Slowly the air became clearer again and a silhouette of a Pokémon lying on the ground, became visible.

"Oh! Togekiss! No!" Misty cried, as she saw her last Pokémon had fainted.

Everyone was now wondering what had happened to Pikachu. The dust had now almost fully cleared, and another silhouette became visible.

"Pikachu, are you okay?" Ash asked his Pokémon.

Pikachu raised it's right arm, winking at Ash that all was fine. Ash ran towards Pikachu.

"Great job, buddy!" he said as he hugged his Pokémon lovingly.

Misty was still in awe, since two of her strongest Pokémon had been beaten with relative ease. "When did Ash become so strong and able to keep his cool in battle?" Then she watched how Angie congratulated him with a kiss on the cheek, and remembered how she gave Ash advice during battle, and he actually took that advice to heart. "It's because of her!" she suddenly realized, "she can get really though to him." Misty felt a little sad, since she had wanted to fulfill that role for Ash, perhaps someday in the future, but quickly took on her role of gym leader.

"Well done, Ash. Here is your Cobble Badge. You've earned it."

Ash gladly accepted the new badge and said to Angie, "Wanna do this together Ange, just like with that medal? After all, I wouldn't have been here now without you."

She took Ash's hand, holding the badge with her.

"We've got the Cobble Badge!" they said at the same time.

Ash was glad that Angie obviously didn't bear any grudge about Misty and him any more. Still he felt a bit like he had something to make up to Angie. He put the badge in his new case, and took her hand again.

"Angie, would you like to go to the dance with me tonight, to celebrate our first victory together?" he asked.

"Oh, how so romantic!" Daisy said, as if she never had suggested just a while ago that Ash should ask Misty instead.

Angie looked very surprised at this sudden invitation.

"I'd love to Ash," she answered, "but... I've nothing to wear tonight."

"And the shops are closed now, because of the festivities," Violet said, looking at her watch. "Well, then...I guess I can't go..." Angie said with a sad voice.

Misty watched this little tragedy in silence, deep in thought. "Well, I've got to admit, Angie cares for Pokémon, maybe as much as Ash. And she looks like she cares a lot about Ash too. Is it just me or does Ash seems happier and stronger than ever, without being overconfident, like when I traveled with him and Brock? I guess they do fit well together." Ash started looking rather sad too. "Oh, I can't just stand here and do nothing!" Misty thought.

"I may have a solution," Misty said, out of the blue. "Angie, come with me, I may have something for you to wear, so you can go to the dance with Ash after all."

Ash was very surprised, just as much as Angie and the others, about what Misty just had proposed.

"Gee, thanks a lot, Misty!" he said.

"Ash, you'd better get dressed up too," Tracey said, as they watched Angie and Misty go away together.

That was something Ash wasn't looking forward too, but he had asked Angie already, so there was no backing out of this. Besides, after everything she did to help him overcome his breakdown after his loss to Paul and the support during his battle with Misty, Angie deserved a little extra attention.

"Okay, I guess you're right," Ash gave in.

"You can use the spare room to change clothes," Lily mentioned, "I'll show you where to find it," and Ash and Tracey followed her.

"Now, let's see what color lipstick will suit you best," Misty said as she looked inside her beauty case.

"I'm so glad with your help, Misty. I'm afraid I have never been very good at using make-up. I always thought I am not pretty enough for it," Angie said.

"Are you kidding?" Misty said as she looked at Angie in disbelief. "You look fine. And we'll make Ash drop his jaw on the floor when we're finished," Misty said with her confident voice.

"You really think?" Angie asked surprised.

"I'm certain of it," Misty confirmed and she continued working on Angie's makeover.

"Now is the best time to ask her," Angie thought.

"You and Ash traveled together for quite a while, right?" Angie carefully started.

Misty nodded.

"What was it like, back then?" Angie continued her question.

Misty stopped what she was doing for a moment.

"Well, you probably know Ash can be very difficult to be around sometimes, he can be so stubborn and dense," Misty started. "I've been wanting to smack him on the head on many occasions. Come to think of it, I think I actually did a few times."

"I know exactly what you mean, go on please." Angie said, as she nodded.

Misty hesitated.

"I've been thinking about leaving him a lot then," she continued, "but somehow I couldn't. I think...you know why..."

Angie looked at Misty, who didn't look at all like the fiery gym leader Ash battled earlier that day, but more like a little schoolgirl, shyly avoiding Angie's eyes.

"You're in love with him too, right?" Angie asked carefully.

Misty nodded.

"I really envy you, Angie," Misty said. "Not just because you're with Ash now, but because you can make him a better trainer, and perhaps a better person. I've been dreaming of being that for him..."

For a while the two girls sat there silently.

"But enough about me, let's get you as pretty as can be, for Ash," Misty said as she regained herself. "Now all we need is a suitable dress."

Misty looked at the ones in her wardrobe, but didn't see what she had in mind.

"Ah, there it is," she said as she took out a truly gorgeous dress. "I've been saving it for a very special occasion, if Ash and I were ever to get closer, to tell you the truth, but since that is not going to happen now, let's see how it looks on you."

Angie loved the dress.

"But, I can't accept it..." she said.

"Oh yes, you can," Misty put aside Angie's objections. "I've promised to make you look smashing and this is just the thing needed to finish it in style. Besides, I did buy it for Ash, so it's only fair that he gets to see it, be it with you in it then."

Angie tried it on, and it was a perfect fit.

"Thank you so much, Misty," Angie said, "you're right, if this doesn't impress Ash, then he'll be sorry."

"Make sure you don't kill him then," Misty said, smiling, "because I want to have a chance to land a few hits on his head too, if he doesn't appreciate my hard work," and the girls both started to laugh.

"Now, you go on to the living room, then I go get Ash from the spare room," Misty said.

Angie did as Misty told, but before she left the room, looked back for a moment, just long enough to see a few tears roll down Misty's face.

"Are you alright?" Angie asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Misty lied, as she tried to hide her true feelings. "This dress has been hanging there for quite some time, so I guess I got a little dust in my eyes. I'll see you in the living room."

Angie felt really sorry for her, as she was taking away all Misty's hopes on a future with Ash. But she knew that Ash had chosen for her, so there was nothing she could change about it.

"Hrrrrmm... stupid clothes!" Ash grumbled as he tried to get into the tuxedo his mother had once given him for "if the occasion would present itself" as she had said it.

"I'll help you with that, stand still!" Tracey said to the struggling Ash. "There now, just don't make any strange moves, and you'll be fine. Nervous?"

"Me? Nervous? No way!" Ash said as he tried to dry his sweaty hands on Pikachu, mistaking it for a towel.

"Pikapika!" his little electric friend said, annoyed, as small sparks flew of it's cheeks.

"No, please don't Thundershock Ash or we have to start all over again to get him neat and tidy," Tracey said frightened.

Pikachu stopped the attack just in time. "Phew, that was close," Tracey thought.

"Are you guys ready? I thought that girls needed more time to dress up, but it seems like it's the other way round!" they heard Misty yell from the other side of the door.

"We're coming," Tracey answered.

"Okay, meet us in the living room," Misty said and they heard her go down the stairs.

"Remember Ash, don't step on Angie's toes when you dance, and give her the flower. Got that?"

Ash nodded, as he took the box from the table. It contained a little rose, made for wearing on a dress. Ash first thought it was not necessary to give such a thing, but Tracey convinced him that Angie would like it, so he would give it to her.

"I 'm ready, I think," Ash said.

"Okay, let's go down, and mind your step on the stairs," Tracey said while he opened the door.

Tracey entered the living room first, followed by Ash. On the other side he saw Violet, Daisy and Lily, with Misty standing before her three sisters. Angie was nowhere to be seen. "Did she run away?" Ash asked himself anxiously. But before he could worry any longer, Misty and her three sisters stepped aside, and there she was, still standing with her back turned to Ash. She slowly turned around and Ash almost fainted. "Wow!" was the only thing that came to his mind as he saw how amazing Angie looked now. "I wonder, I'm pretty sure I've seen that beautiful dress before, but where? Anyway, it's just perfect for her," Ash thought. He had seen some impressive transformations in his life, but absolutely nothing could top this. It was better then when his Metapod had evolved to Butterfree or anything else. Angie used to conceal her appearance with her rather boyish clothes. Ash couldn't imagine why. "She is like... incredible," he thought.

"Well, Ash... what do you think?" Angie asked as she looked into his eyes. "Do you like it?" she asked full of hope.

"Like it?" Ash said, "you are simply beautiful!"

Angie blushed like never before.

"I've got a little something for you," Ash continued, "although I doubt whether it is pretty enough to fit with the rest of you," he said as he opened the little box and gave her the rose to wear on her dress.

"Now let's go to the dance!" Daisy said out loud in her familiar enthusiasm.

As everyone else was leaving the room, Ash stepped up to Misty.

"Thanks for what you did for Angie," he said, "you've made her look even better than ever."

Misty blushed a little.

"Well, it helps if you have the right base material to begin with," Misty said, "she is a pretty girl, Ash. You'd better cherish her really well."

"You can be sure I will," he said, as he nodded. "by the way, that dress looks really familiar. Isn't that the one we once spent an entire afternoon running from one shop to another because you just had to buy some new clothes?

"Yup, that's the same one," Misty replied.

"You know you were driving me really mad then?" Ash continued, " and if back then it would have lasted much longer before you finally found that shop that had something to your liking, I might even have killed you. But now I'm glad I didn't," he smiled, "I wouldn't want to have missed to see how great that dress looks on Angie."

Misty had to swallow a few tears she felt coming up. Ash noticed something was wrong.

"It would have looked really good on you too," he said, hoping to cheer her up a little.

"Ah, you're just saying that," Misty replied.

"No, I mean it. You can look nice if you want to," Ash explained. "You just don't usually take that extra effort."

"What! You mean I look horrible most of the time!?" Misty yelled.

Ash was glad that she wasn't about to burst into tears anymore, but he also wasn't waiting for one of those familiar Misty-fits.

"You know I almost quit training Pokémon a few days ago?" he mentioned, to help change the subject.

"Huh? You? No way!" Misty said in disbelief.

Ash told her all about his big disappointment about how he lost to Paul and how Angie helped him to get back his belief in his abilities as a trainer.

"Wow, Ash. So you and Angie have been through a lot already," Misty said. "I must admit that I was hoping you had come back here to Cerulean Town just for me. You probably know by now how I feel about you, right?" she said.

"Well, the way you reacted when seeing Angie, and the very unsubtle hints your sisters gave me, did make it cross my mind," Ash admitted.

"Well, I was at first very mad when I realized that she is your girlfriend," Misty continued, "but now I can see that she really likes you, she does everything to support you, and that you like her back. You two make a really great team together..."

Now there was clearly a tear in the corner of Misty's eye. She wanted to run away, but Ash grabbed her hand.

"Please, don't run off like that and go being sad somewhere all alone," Ash said to her with warmth in his voice. "You deserve so much better than that. Come to the dance, try to have some fun. Do it for me."

Misty wiped the tears from her eyes. Ash put an arm around her shoulder and gave her a friendly hug.

"Okay Ash, let's go to the dance then!" Misty said, looking slightly cheered up again, "otherwise they might wonder where we are, and you mustn't keep your pretty partner waiting."

"Now that's more like it! Let's go!" Ash agreed with her.

Ash has never been much of a dancer, but he managed to get a little practice with Tracey, as they were getting ready for the dance earlier that day. As a result, Tracey now had some trouble walking, but Ash had finally learned not to step on the toes of his dancing partner all the time, if he concentrated hard enough. So, still a little nervous, he asked Angie for a dance with him. She gladly accepted, Misty's sisters giggling as they watched them from a small distance. The music began playing, and they started dancing. Misty was talking with Tracey, Ash had noticed, and she seemed to be having fun. "I'm glad she's not so sad anymore," Ash thought. Although he wasn't in love with Misty, he still felt somewhat responsible for her, even more since now she had been feeling bad because of him.

"Ash, that's my toe you're dancing on," Angie whispered in his ear.

"Oh, sorry," he apologized.

"Focus on dancing again, Ash," he said to himself.

"Now that's much better," Angie said as they moved around the dance floor with more ease and grace than a moment ago.

The music changed to a slow tune. Angie laid her head down on Ash's shoulder, as they moved slowly from one side to another. Ash didn't think about his next gym battle, or even about Pokémon. All he could think of was this beautiful girl he was holding close now.

My tenth fan-fiction story. I apologize for any typing errors, or grammatically not 100% correct sentences. Remember, I am not a native English speaker or writer. I tried to make this story as close to the Pokémon series as possible, so that the characters will react roughly the same in this fictional story as they do in the series. Comments are always welcome, you can use the review function on this FanFiction site for that.

Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own any trademarks of Pokémon. Any similarities to the works of others is purely accidental, and not meant as an infringement on anyone's achievements.


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